Brain Trauma Injury

Jamila Rizvi and Rosie Waterland have each suffered significant, debilitating brain injury – one through rare disease and the medical interventions that followed, the other through deep childhood trauma.

Annie Liontas suffered multiple concussions in her thirties. In Sex with a Brain Injury, she writes about what it means to be one of the “walking wounded,” facing her fear, her rage, her physical suffering, and the effects of head trauma on her marriage and other relationships. Forced to reckon with her own queer mother’s battle with addiction, Liontas finds echoes in their pain. Liontas weaves history, philosophy, and personal accounts to interrogate and expand representations of mental health, ability, and disability—particularly in relation to women and the LGBT community.

A traumatic brain injury is a life-changing event, affecting an individual's lifestyle, ability to work, relationships - even personality. A severe blow to the head results in acute and, often, lasting symptoms. People with brain injury benefit from understanding, patience, and assistance in recovering their bearings and functioning to their full abilities. Neuropsychiatrists Drs. Vani Rao and Sandeep Vaishnavi - experts in helping people heal after head trauma - explain how traumatic brain injury, whether mild, moderate, or severe, affects the brain.

In Concussion Rescue, Dr. Kabran Chapek shares the programs and protocols that he uses at the Amen Clinics to put patients on the pathway to healing from traumatic brain injury. From general assessment using sophisticated tools (SPECT imaging, MRIs, and CAT scans) to very specific blood tests (out-of-balance lab values in blood can point to symptoms of brain injury and may explain why the brain is not healing), Dr. Chapek guides listeners to getting the proper medical care.

When Sydney boxer Davey Browne died in 2015 after being knocked out in the final round of a title fight that he was about to win, boxing once again came under intense public scrutiny. For journalist Stephanie Convery, the story of that fatal fight raised questions she became determined to answer: who should be held accountable when someone dies in the ring? Did the actions of the referee, the ringside doctor, the combat sports inspectors, and the trainer affect what happened that night?